Sorry in advance if this is not the correct flair to use.
A person close to me very generously lent me some money (in JPY) in November 2022 because I was very short back then and needed it for some urgent expenses. As of April 2024, I still haven’t repaid this debt completely, but I’m looking into organizing my finances to pay it off within the next couple of months. He lent me the money with no strings attached and he told me to give it back little by little only when I could, without any rush.
However, as we all know, these past two years there has been quite a change in inflation and prices in general due to the yen losing value. So I’d like to give him back a bit more than I owe him to account for these variations since the amount he lent me was worth more in 2022 than the same amount in 2024.
Where can I find the official inflation rate/CPI I should be looking at and how do I calculate the updated amount? Is there a site that can do this for me?
Thanks!
by Kangy1989
2 comments
It sounds like you’re a very generous person, and I’m sure your friend would appreciate the thought.
However, the reality of the situation is that you’re not in a position to pay your friend back today, and your friend is in a position to wait for as long as possible.
If I were your friend, I would be very uncomfortable with receiving back more than I lent you, especially if there was a thought that due to your overpayment, you will be in trouble and require my help again in the near future.
If I were you, I’d stop overthinking it, and just focus on being able to repay your friend as soon as possible.
Any search engine can get you a time series for [Japan’s CPI](https://tradingeconomics.com/japan/consumer-price-index-cpi).
It was 103.9 in November 2022, and it’s 106.9 now. So if you add 2.9% to your original nominal debt, that would achieve your goal.
Either that, or buy him dinner/a bottle of booze.